Ghost Culture
by Enray
Summary: A response to Invader Johnny's "Danny and Ember" challenge. Ember injured Danny, and according to ghost custom, she has to take care of him until he is fully healed. To pass the time, Ember educates our halfa on ghost culture.


This is the response to Invader Johnny's "Danny and Ember" challenge.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Simple.

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He was asleep when she entered his room, phasing through the walls. However, she was a ghost, a ghost meant inevitably triggering the ghost sense, and a triggered ghost sense meant an awake halfa.

Blue eyes opened reluctantly with a groan. The halfa struggled to sit up as he scanned the room, moaning softly as the wound in his side made itself known with his exertion. When his eyes met hers, he finally gave up the battle to sit up and let his head fall back onto his pillow, his raven hair looking darker against the white cotton.

"What do you want now?" Danny growled, clearly not in the mood to have any visitors outside his close circle of friends.

"I'm here to take care of you, dipstick." Ember answered unhappily. Stupid culture. Stupid customs.

"Take care of me?" Danny retorted incredulously. "You practically blasted a chunk out of my side last night and now you're taking care of me?"

"It's a ghost custom. If you hurt a ghost in his or her lair, you have to take care of the ghost until he or she is healed." Ember recited from memory. "Good thing you heal fast, dipstick."

"How would you know? That I'm hurt."

"How can I not?" Ember raised her hands. On her wrists were a string of foreign words etched into her blue skin. "It'll only go away when you're fully healed."

"What if you don't come to take care of me?"

"These things would suck my powers until I don't have enough power to exist."

"O… kay…"

"Hey! I didn't come up with the rules, dipstick." She snapped.

"Then who does?"

There was silence as the flame-haired ghost pondered on the question. The halfa raised a good point.

"No one knows. It's just something we follow." Ember finally answered.

"How do you know about these 'ghost customs'? Like the Christmas Truce." Danny asked.

"A ghost is only considered a ghost after he or she reaches his or her second deathday. A senior ghost will come to bore the new ghost with useless information of the ghost custom in huge boring bucketfuls. Don't know why they bother. I only remember the interesting ones."

"Since you're here, why don't you tell me about the customs? I'll be having my second 'deathday' soon anyway."

He was interested, she had nothing to do.

"First one. On New Year Day, every ghost liar will be open to all. All ghosts can visit, but they can't destroy anything. After every visit, if the visitor leaves something behind, it means that the visitor wants to have friendly fights with the host for the whole year. The host has to accept." Ember explained.

"That explains the ghost stuff in my room, and the glowing guitar." Danny shot Ember a look. The ghost pop star ignored it.

"Then, on the first day of summer, there's the Rock Festival. Those who want to participate get a rock, blast it, fly, win."

Danny gave her a blank look. She sighed. The halfa really didn't know anything.

"It's like a race. Everyone gets together at the Rocky Road. You get a rock, shape it into whatever design you want, and fly it as fast as you can. The first to reach the finish line wins." She elaborated.

"Why?" Danny couldn't help but ask.

"How would I know, dipstick?" Ember said annoyed.

"I was just asking." Danny defended.

"If you want me to continue, you will keep your mouth shut." She hated it when people weren't listening to her.

He pressed his lips together and didn't say another word.

"Good." At least dipstick knew when to listen. "There's a festival to celebrate the day Pariah Dark was locked in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. It's called the Locking Festival. The Locking Festival is celebrated every third of August. We find a spot and everyone have fun together."

"Like a ghostly Fourth of July." Danny said to himself.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You know the Christmas Truce already… that's all the festivals we have."

"That's all? What do you do the rest of the time?"

"Now you know why we come here so often." She checked her wrists. The tattoos were still there.

"Can't you guys just make up more festivals to entertain yourselves?" Danny grumbled. Suddenly, his gazed snapped down from the ceiling towards her. He asked, "What about the Ghost Festival the Chinese celebrate?"

"We call that the Spirit Festival. Those 'ghosts' are just spirits of the deceased. They're different from us. For one, they have practically no powers. Most of them can't even control their invisibility and intangibility. Some don't even _know_ they can fly. We don't call them ghosts. They even follow their own calendar to hold their festival.

"Enough of the spirits. The next thing the senior ghost will bore you with is the ghost customs. I don't care about them. Only remember a few. You know the custom that's the only reason I'm here. Another one's when you're visiting a lair and meet the ghost in charge. You start the battle as a greeting. Most ghosts don't do that anymore, except when they come over here." Ember said.

"You guys really know how to make a halfa feel loved." Danny muttered. Ignoring the comment, Ember continued.

"Every year, a ghost celebrates his or her deathday. " Catching the small frown on his face, she elaborated, "The day a ghost died. Some of us throw parties to celebrate, most don't, but they spend the special day in their own way. Ghosts who know the deathday ghost give presents."

"Like a birthday." Danny said to himself.

"Yeah, just that you don't actually start until you're two afteryears old. Another thing's that not every ghost became a ghost when they died. Some are _born_ ghost. For these ghosts, we have a different custom. When the ghostling is two aftermonths old, the ghosts close to the parents will come to visit. The parents are supposed to prepare a cup of drink. The size and content are up to the parents. I heard a couple put vinegar from the human world once. Anyway, all the ghosts will drink once from the cup. The one that finishes it is required to bless the child."

"Does that ever happen?" Danny asked incredulously. "Oh wait, forget that."

She thought she heard Danny mutter "Eww!"

"There's a rumour that Desiree was a ghostling, but no ghost's proved it yet." Ember told him. She started to pick at her guitar strings as she searched for another ghost custom.

Skulker.

"One last custom. The rest are so stupid I don't bother to remember them. A ghost is not allowed to kill another ghost in his or her own lair."

Danny gave her a blank look that she could totally relate with. Even she barely understood what she just said. Especially the killing part. She was still trying to understand how a ghost could be killed.

"Skulker's an example. You know how he really looks?" Ember asked. Danny nodded.

Good, easier for her to explain.

"He wasn't always that small and weak. Before he died, he was a hunter, one of the best. Even as a ghost, he loves hunting. He'll always be hunting some ghost-creatures-no-one-even-knows-of or some nice looking ghost creatures to hang on the walls in his lair. Really stupid. Most of the creatures would have faded away even if he didn't hunt them. And almost every time he killed a ghost, he would get smaller, and weaker, and shorter, until now. And he still hasn't learnt his lesson. If he actually manages to kill you, I won't be surprised if he just disappears from this place."

"Oh." The halfa looked speechless.

Both of them looked towards the door as they heard heavy footsteps running up the stairs.

"I think you should leave the room." Danny warned her.

"You don't order me around." Ember said defiantly.

"Do you seriously want to face my parents? Who are both ghost hunters? And my mom who gets a little crazy when her children are in potential danger?"

Any dipstick would know the answer to that.

"I'll come back after they leave." Ember said before flying out of the window, just before the door was slammed open.

"GHOST!"

"Dad! Can't an injured person heal in peace?"

"Sorry son. Was there a ghost in here?"

"No, why?"

"Nothing, must be a glitch. Can't get this thing to work."

Ember laid lazily on the roof as she listened half heatedly to the little chatter taking place under her. As long as she had the tattoos around her wrist, she wasn't allowed to damage the lair and she couldn't be too far from dipstick. That left her with nothing else to do but listen while the humans were there. At least she wasn't cooped up in that room with the halfa.

Actually, he wasn't that bad, after you get past the Protector Phantom to the Friendly Danny. If she hadn't injured the halfa, she wouldn't have talked so long with him without fighting. Maybe there was a reason to all that 'custom' after all.

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Hope you like it. Please drop a review to tell me what you think about it. Poetess is on holiday, watching the Merdeka celebration and all, for those who are wondering.

Thanks.


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